25/07/1934:

THE SCHOOL MEALS (GAELTACHT) ACTS, 1930 AND 1933.

THE SCHOOL MEALS (GAELTACHT) ACTS, 1930 AND 1933.

The Minister for Local Government and Public Health, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers vested in him by the School Meals (Gaeltacht) Acts, 1930 and 1933, and in exercise of all other powers enabling him in this behalf, hereby makes the following regulations, that is to say :—

1. These Regulations may be cited as the School Meals (Gaeltacht) Regulations, 1934.

2. (1) In these Regulations the expression " the Principal Act " means the School Meals (Gaeltacht) Act, 1930 ; the expression " the Act of 1933 " means the School Meals (Gaeltacht) Act, 1933 ; the expression " the Minister " means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health ; the expression " prescribed " means prescribed by the Minister ; every expression to which a special meaning is assigned in the Principal Act shall have the same meaning as in that Act ; the expression " provision of meals " means the provision under section 4 of the Principal Act of meals for children attending national schools in the scheduled area of a board of health and includes the provision of food, accommodation, apparatus, equipment, service, and all other things necessary for or incidental to the provision of such meals ; and the expression " provision of food " means the provision of food for such meals.

(2) The Interpretation Act, 1923 , applies to the interpretation of these Regulations in like manner as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas.

3. From and after the date of these Regulations, the Regulations made by the Minister in this behalf dated the 24th day of October, 1930, entitled the School Meals (Gaeltacht) Regulations, 1930, shall be revoked.

4. (1) A board of health shall not in any local financial year expend any moneys in the provision of meals at a national school save and in accordance with arrangements in writing, which the board shall have first approved, for the provision of meals thereat.

(2) The board shall immediately after such approval notify the Minister of the name and address of the school and of the nature of the food to be provided thereat, and shall similarly notify any alteration from time to time in the nature of the food so provided.

(3) The board shall secure that so far as is practicable, having regard to the circumstances of the school, the arrangements for the preparation and service of the meals shall be satisfactory.

5. Whenever a board of health propose to exclude one or more of the national schools in their scheduled area from the provision of meals, they shall notify the Minister and with such notification they shall forward a statement of any special circumstances, which, in their opinion, justify such exclusion.

6. Any person authorised by the Minister may inspect at any reasonable time the provision of meals and may inquire into the adequacy of the arrangements for the provision of food and the efficiency of their working and each board of health shall make arrangements accordingly.

7. A board of health shall supply to the Minister such information as he may require from time to time in connection with the provision of meals.

8. A board of health shall so far as possible contract in writing for the supply of all goods required by them in connection with the provision of meals.

9. All orders for the supply of any goods or for the doing of any work required by a board of health in connection with the provision of meals shall be given only by a person authorised by the board on their behalf, and shall be in the form (Form No. 10) prescribed by the Public Bodies Order, 1925.

10. A board of health shall not authorise any person to defray on their behalf, or make any advance of money to any person for the purpose of defraying, any expenses incurred by the board in connection with the provision of meals.

11. A board of health shall arrange, as far as possible, to defray in each month the expenses incurred by them in the provision of meals during the preceding month.

12. A board of health shall, in keeping the accounts of their receipts and expenditure, show separately their receipts and expenditure in connection with the provision of meals, and also the portion of such latter expenditure attributable to the provision of food, and shall show the particulars thereof separately in Table A (1) of the abstract of accounts of the board.

13. (1) The grant payable to a board of health will be based on the expenditure out of the rates during the local financial year in respect of the provision of food and subject as hereinafter provided shall not exceed whichever of the following amounts is the less, that is to say :—

(a) one-half of such expenditure ;

(b) an amount calculated in relation to such board in accordance with paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of section 9 of the Principal Act.

(2) Where the amount of any grant calculated in accordance with sub-paragraph (b) of the preceding paragraph is less than one-half of such expenditure as aforesaid, the Minister may, subject to the provisions of the Act of 1933 and of these Regulations, increase the amount thereof by an amount not exceeding the amount of such deficiency.

14. The grant will be payable to a board of health in the following manner :—

(1) During the half-year ending on the 30th day of September, an instalment will be issued not exceeding

(a) 50 per cent. of the estimated expenditure for that half-year, or

(b) 50 per cent. of the amount mentioned in paragraph (b) of No. 13 of these Regulations.

whichever is the less.

(2) During the half-year ending on the 31st day of March an instalment will be issued not exceeding 30 per cent. of the estimated expenditure for that half-year abated or increased, as the case may require, by the amount by which the instalment issued under the preceding paragraph exceeds or is less than one-half of the realised expenditure for the preceding half-year ; provided that the amount of any such instalment taken with the amount of the instalment for the preceding half-year shall not exceed 80 per cent of the amount mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) of No. 13 of these Regulations.

(3) Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding paragraph at the close of the local financial year a final instalment may be paid not exceeding such amount as shall be certified by the auditor, after examination of the accounts, to be the balance of the amount payable in respect of the grant under section 9 of the Principal Act.

(4) If at the close of any local financial year the sum of £10,000 is found to exceed the total amount of the grants made under section 9 of the Principal Act, an additional grant not exceeding an amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 1933 may then be paid to any board of health where the grant made to such board was less than one-half of the expenditure as certified by the auditor which was incurred by such board in such year out of the rates in the provision of food.

15. For the purposes of the foregoing article the board of health shall forward to the Minister in such form as may be prescribed by the Minister :—

(1) in the month of October of each year a preliminary estimate of their expenditure in respect of the provision of food for the ensuing local financial year accompanied by explanatory particulars of any substantial increase or decrease in such estimate as compared with the estimate for the preceding local financial year ; and

(2) in the month of April of each year an estimate of their expenditure in respect of the provision of food for the half-year ending on the 30th day of September following ; and

(3) in the month of October each year a statement of their actual expenditure in respect of the provision of food during the half-year ended on the 30th day of September, and an estimate of their corresponding expenditure for the half-year ending on the 31st day of March following.

16. Nothing in these regulations shall be interpreted so as to compel the Minister to make any grant or pay any instalment of a grant to a board of health unless the Minister is satisfied that the arrangements made by the board of health for the provision of meals are adequate, and that such arrangements are being and have been efficiently carried out.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health this Twenty-fifth day of July, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-four.

(Signed) GERALD BOLAND,

Minister for Posts and Telegraphs acting as Agent for the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the foregoing regulations.

(Signed) SEÁN MACENTEE,

Minister for Finance.